Department for Business and Trade

Mining

Kenny MacAskill: To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what her Department's strategy is for the mining of UK minerals through clean technology for energy security.

Ms Nusrat Ghani: To help secure the supply of critical minerals, as well as increase confidence in the UK’s energy transition, government has published a Critical Minerals Refresh, setting out our refreshed approach to delivering the Critical Minerals Strategy. The UK has pockets of mineral wealth and as home to major global mining companies has unique strengths in mineral and mining expertise, R&D, finance, and standards.

House of Commons Commission

Climate Assembly UK

Mr Ranil Jayawardena: To ask the hon. Member for Broxbourne, representing the House of Commons Commission, if the Commission will make an assessment of the adequacy of the due diligence processes used when awarding a contract for the delivery of Climate Assembly UK.

Sir Charles Walker: The procurement process for the delivery of Climate Assembly UK was run fully in line with House practice and legal requirements. It used an Open procedure under the Public Procurement Regulations. In doing so the House of Commons applied objective due diligence criteria related to the contract, including grounds for exclusion from the competition. The process ensured that bidders were managed in an equal, transparent and non-discriminatory manner. Bidders were required to complete a suitability questionnaire and meet criteria based upon quality and value for money considerations. The successful supplier provided the best value for money for the House and delivered a product that was subsequently judged favourably by the independent evaluation process that reviewed its methodology and outputs. The political views of the sub-contractors were not included as part of the evaluation criteria, in line with House practice.

Women and Equalities

Conversion Therapy

Richard Thomson: To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what plans she has to ban sexual orientation and gender identity conversion practices.

Stuart Andrew: Whilst some forms of conversion practice already constitute a criminal offence, the Government will publish a draft Bill setting out our approach to banning those conversion practices which are still legal. This will include those acts targeted on the basis of being transgender. This will go for pre-legislative scrutiny by a joint committee. It is the Government's intention to complete pre-legislative scrutiny in the current parliamentary session.

Department of Health and Social Care

Pregnancy: Sodium Valproate

Alan Brown: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many sodium valproate victims there are in Scotland.

Maria Caulfield: The information requested is not collected centrally.

Mental Health Services: Children and Young People

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that children and young people are not placed in social care settings if mental health interventions are required.

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps he is taking to ensure that children with intent on significant harm are placed in mental health facilities rather than social care settings.

Maria Caulfield: Children’s and young people’s mental health interventions can take place in many contexts and will depend on the clinical needs of the child as to whether interventions are delivered in the community, whilst the child is in a placement, or in an inpatient setting. We are working with Department for Education and NHS England, to ensure that the needs of children in different settings are met fairly and equitably.Our strategy is to reduce reliance on mental health inpatient beds and to have fewer young people being detained under the Mental Health Act. To support this, the model of inpatient care is being re-designed to enable the move to a more community-based provision of care, where children and young people can access appropriate mental health support in a timely, effective, and person-centred way, at home or close to home and in the least restrictive environment. We also recognise that for some children and young people, admission to hospital will not be the most appropriate way to meet their needs. This has been a focus of the transformation of children and young people’s mental health and continues to be a priority in the NHS Long Term Plan.We are also working with key stakeholders including the Association of Directors of Children’s Services and the Local Government Association, to consider how we can better work together to deliver children’s social care and health services for children with the most complex needs.A Task and Finish Group is examining the barriers to commissioning and providing joint care and health provision, and how we can support the sector to better deliver this in future through implementing the recommendations in Stable Homes Built on Love, the Government’s strategy for transforming children’s social care, and building on other ongoing programmes, such as the NHS Long Term Plan.

Hepatitis: Disease Control

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what plans he has for the maintenance phase of hepatitis C elimination once England has reached the World Health Organization elimination metrics.

Maria Caulfield: Significant progress has been made in the effort to eliminate Hepatitis C (HCV) in England. NHS England has publicly committed to the elimination of HCV in England in advance of the World Health Organization’s target of 2030, aiming to eliminate by 2025.Work to support the elimination maintenance phase is currently being developed. It will involve multiple stakeholders including NHS England Specialised Commissioning, integrated care boards (ICBs), the Department, and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA). In addition, commissioning arrangements for HCV elimination are expected to be devolved to local levels, with ICBs managing funding for issues such as testing and treatment. UKHSA will continue to monitor maintenance of elimination through routine surveillance data.

Mental Health Services: Young People

Sally-Ann Hart: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether he plans to provide funding for a network of early support hubs for the provision of mental health support for young people in the forthcoming Major Conditions Strategy.

Maria Caulfield: Further policy detail will be set out in the Major Conditions Strategy Interim Report, later this year. The Government is aware of Early Support Hubs and is working with the sector to understand their role in supporting children and young people but there are currently plans to create a network of hubs across the country. There are currently around 60 hubs in England that feature early intervention and prevention services. They are locally designed and funded and often provide several different services, for example, sexual health clinics or careers advice. Integrated care boards and local authorities work with local partners to understand local needs and commission services on that basis.Nationally, we are supporting the expansion and transformation of mental health services for children and young people through the NHS Long Term Plan. As part of the accompanying investment of at least an extra £2.3 billion a year by March 2024, an additional 345,000 children and young people will be able to get the mental health support they need. We also provided an additional £79 million for 2021/22 to allow around 22,500 more children and young people to access community mental health services and around 2,000 more to access eating disorder services. We are making good progress on expanding access year on year. The number of children and young people aged under 18 supported through National Health Service funded mental health with at least one contact with services was 689,621 in the year up to July 2022 compared to 618,537 in the year up to July 2021.

Social Services: Families

Mr Tanmanjeet Singh Dhesi: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that people with parental responsibilities are aware of family support services available to them.

Neil O'Brien: Parental awareness of family support involves a wide range of local authority and National Health Service commissioned services. The Department supports the ambition that all families have access to information they need to care for their own health and wellbeing, which is set out in for example, the Family Hub & Start for Life programme guide, available at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/1096786/Family_Hubs_and_Start_for_Life_programme_guide.pdfand ‘Best Start in Life and Beyond’ commissioning guidance, available at the following link:https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/969168/Commissioning_guide_1.pdf

Viral Diseases: Blood

Peter Dowd: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the impact of the opt-out testing programme for blood-borne viruses in Emergency Departments; and whether he plans to expand it beyond the initial areas included.

Neil O'Brien: We are assessing all the evidence from the first year of the opt-out testing programme for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and blood-borne viruses in emergency departments, alongside the data on progress towards our ambitions to end new HIV transmissions and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome and HIV related deaths within England by 2030.This data will be used to examine the feasibility of further expanding the programme and we will be sharing evidence as it emerges to support other areas of the country to make the case for implementing the same approach locally.

Cancer: Artificial Sweeteners

Jim Shannon: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, whether his Department has made an assessment of the potential link between artificial sweeteners and cancer.

Neil O'Brien: The safety of sweeteners is the responsibility of the Food Standards Agency (FSA). As with other food additives, sweeteners are regulated, and safe use levels are established in legislation. Although occasional studies published in the scientific literature have attributed adverse health effects, including cancer, to sweeteners, this has not been substantiated. There is currently no credible evidence linking exposure to sweeteners in humans to cancer. The FSA will continue to assess new scientific data on food additives, to ensure that consumers are safe.

Earwax: Medical Treatments

Justin Madders: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what impact assessment the Government's has conducted on its decision in September 2020 to categorise NHS Ear Wax Removal Services as non-core for the purpose of services that must be provided by GP surgeries.

Neil O'Brien: The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has issued guidance no longer advising manual ear syringing due to the risks associated, such as trauma to the ear drum or infection. NICE guidance suggests alternative arrangements for treatment of excessive ear wax, such as considering ear irrigation using an electronic irrigator, micro suction, or another method of earwax removal, which could include manual removal using a probe.General practitioner services follow this guidance and are increasingly recommending self-care methods as the primary means to support the safe removal of ear wax, such as in cases of deafness. Commissioners should ensure that there is appropriate access to ear wax removal services which are free at the point of use, where these are necessary and clinically appropriate for a patient.

Health: Products

Rachael Maskell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department plans to take to tackle misinformation on healthcare products (a) online and (b) in communities.

Will Quince: The Department works with its executive agencies, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) and the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) to counter misinformation on healthcare products. The MHRA regulates medicines and medical devices, with such products subject to strict legal control, and works across the health and social care sector in tackling reports of misinformation. It works closely with the UKHSA’s National Alert and Assessment team and has discussed this issue with the Department for Culture, Media & Sport in the context of the Online Safety Bill.When the MHRA receives any reports of misinformation, consideration is given to the source of the misinformation and the impact that it is having. Where necessary, the MHRA will contact media outlets to correct any misinformation within their content and works with fact checker organisations to provide authoritative information to help address misinformation.

Department for Culture, Media and Sport

English National Opera: Finance

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether she has had recent discussions with Arts Council England on the potential impact of reductions in funding for English National Opera.

Julia Lopez: The Secretary of State and Ministers regularly meet Arts Council England, as an arm’s length body of the Department, to discuss a number of topics.The decisions made by Arts Council England about which institutions to fund, and by how much, in its 2023–26 Investment Programme were taken at arm's length from HM Government. This is in accordance with the well established process, which is published on the Arts Council’s website and made clear in the guidance for applicants. As such, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) does not, nor should it, review individual decisions.We are pleased that both Arts Council England and the English National Opera are working together on possibilities for the future of the organisation. Arts Council England has set a provisional budget of up to £24 million to support the English National Opera, subject to successful application, for 2024–26. This is in addition to the £11.46 million of funding already awarded to the ENO for the period April 2023 to March 2024 while it develops its future plans. Further detail was published in the joint statement on 12 April 2023 and can be accessed online. DCMS officials are helping to convene relevant parties and support finding a way forward.

English National Opera: Finance

Catherine West: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what recent discussions she has had with the English National Opera on the funding decisions made by Arts Council England.

Julia Lopez: The Secretary of State and Ministers regularly meet stakeholders from across the sector and across the country to discuss a range of topics. This includes the English National Opera.The decisions made by Arts Council England about which institutions to fund, and by how much, in its 2023–26 Investment Programme were taken at arm's length from HM Government. This is in accordance with the well established process, which is published on the Arts Council’s website and made clear in the guidance for applicants. As such, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) does not, nor should it, review individual decisions.We are pleased that both Arts Council England and the English National Opera are working together on possibilities for the future. Arts Council England has set a provisional budget of up to £24 million to support the English National Opera, subject to successful application, for 2024–26. This is in addition to the £11.46 million of funding already awarded to the ENO for the period April 2023 to March 2024 while it develops its future plans. Further detail was published in the joint statement on 12 April 2023 and can be accessed online. DCMS officials are helping to convene relevant parties and support finding a way forward.